Verizon is making changes for new device upgrades

0.phoneArena
12 Apr 2013, 22:39posted on

Verizon has announced late Friday a number of changes to its upgrade program that eliminate early 20 month upgrade eligibility and requires that customers fulfill the terms of their 24 month contract in order to be able to purchase a new handset at a subsidized price; meanwhile, those who still have New Every Two credits must use them by April 15th...

You dont need to be rich. Even someone that works minimum wage could (potentially) afford it, as long as they budget themselves properly and save up for said devices. Also device trade ins can reduce some of the cost.

Third world countries even pay over $1000 for an iphone 5. U dont have to be rich to afford that.
I paid $680 for the Nexus One on Googles website. I hope Verizon ends subsidy. I just hope this brings the cost of service down

VZW had a one year upgrade program (aka one year contract). I got my Droid X on that program. Then they eliminated the one year contracts and I have alternated between paying full fare and the reduced fare. Overall it is probably close to the one year contract after factoring in the $ that is made from selling the one year old handset.

VZW still has the best LTE coverage of any of the 4 majors in the U.S. Got to pay to play.

I'm sick of these technically challenged ill-informed feces for brain folks who either:

1. Want their phones to do everything but then say, 'I only wanna' pay Virgin Mobile prices'.
2. Take a FREE phone on a two-year contract then, b¡tch about how the service (not the phone) sucks - but, we really know it's their cheap free phone. But, hey, according to their own RATIONALE, 'I didn't pay anything for it'!? (That's the most ignorantly common ill-informed justification I always hear - just DUMB).
3. Have no basis for comparison and think that data connection dl speeds are supposed to be slow.

I have a friend on Sprint; she's been with Sprint since about 2000 with the same number. I was playing around with her EVO last week and told her to update Astro; we hit the update button and after about 5 minutes it still hadn't reached 1%. I told her that it shouldn't take that long so, we canceled the update. Then, to prove my point, I pulled out my Galaxy Note 2 and proceeded to check if I could take the exact same update version for Astro and I, in fact, could. So I executed the update on the two phones at exactly the same time; my VZW GN2 was finished and installed in about 25 seconds while her Sprint EVO moved at snale's pace and repeated the same download rate as the previous attempt; after another 5 minutes we canceled AGAIN (And, yes we were on Sprint's 4G).

I did the same test. Downloaded Skype on my friends I phone 5 (sprint) and then sitting there staring at it I realized it was pretty dang slow, so I pulled out my RAZR M. Downloaded the same app in 5 seconds as his was still going.

Sprint has had its share of challenges over the years. I was actually on Sprint for about 10 years when I was using BlackBerries. My last experience with Sprint was with the Evo 3D. WiMax on the S.F. peninsula was spotty at best. I could be seeing 4 Mb/s down on one corner of a block; at the opposite end of the block (~300 yards?), there would be no WiMax signal and down would be around 300 Kb/s. When I got the Droid X, I was reliably seeing 1.0 Mb/s down everywhere I went with the phone. That was the end of my relationship with Sprint.

I have never looked back. When I upgraded my X to the RAZR, VZWs LTE was absolutely flying - 18 Mb/s down was the norm and it could go as high as 22 or 23 Mb/s. Apple iP4/S owners were positively green with envy when we would be getting the same e-mail with an attachment. I would have read the attachment and replied while they were still waiting for the download to finish.

VZW has a real advantage (even today) with their LTE network. Expect them to monetize that advantage. They are in business to make $ for their shareholders, after all.

OMG I've had a similar evolution in VZW phones. I almost went back to Sprint when the EVOOOO was released; I initiated service, bought the EVOOOO, traded in a couple of broken iPhones for credit (I wound up paying like $37 dollars for the EVOOOO after all my credits, discounts and rebate) and almost gave up Verizon. Whhhheeeeww, that would've been a mistake. Good thing I suspended my service from June through November. When I realized how backwards Sprint still was, I swapped out the EVOOOO with a Palm Centro (to release the EVO's IMEI), sold the EVO for $325 and reactivated my VZW service. Initially, I wound up with a DROID X in December 2010 but then, managed to upgrade to the RAZR in December 2011 without losing my Unlimited Data; it took just finding the right rep' who was willing (keyword "willing") to pull up the appropriate plan codes from the account history to push through the Unlimited Data feature even after it had been discontinued. And, now I'm the daddy of Supermachine called the Galaxy Note 2. But, thank god, no more Sprint!!

Enjoying your Sprint LTE when you leave SF? Or, do you just don't use data when you are away from the LTE tether? If you haven't experienced no LTE coverage, you don't know what life is like without. Nothing like Stockholm Syndrome.

Never sucks to be on Big Red. In addition to the best and most consistent 4G LTE network, they also have the bestest' devices and only American Customer Service Call Centers in English (American English, not that broken "scripted" English that you get from one of those OTHER three carriers' Customer dis-Service with call centers only in India, Malaysia, Philippines, Guam, etc!)

I left Verizon mobile broadband and their 4G LTE network. I was all set to use Virgin Mobile WiMax for $35 for 10GB a month. By accident, I decided to try ATT 4G with Liberate mifi.

ATT 4G LTE is faster than Verizon. VM was 4-6 Mbps while Verizon LTE was 8-10 Mbps while ATT was 10 to 14 Mbps. I tested all three networks for two weeks and ATT was consistently faster than Verizon. So after 4 years, it was adios Verizon.

One way to explain that is that AT&T's LTE adoption rate is likely far lower than Verizon's, since Verizon has had LTE in far more places far longer than AT&T. I could be wrong, but as with any network, the more people using it, the slower the network will run. Once more people adopt AT&T's LTE devices, I'd be willing to bet you will see the speeds normalize to about the same with little variance.

"Once more people adopt AT&T's LTE devices, I'd be willing to bet you will see the speeds normalize to about the same with little variance."

And, worst case, if subscriber growth continues and no investment is made in expanding capacity along with the subscriber growth, you will see a reduction in speeds. So, you might be seeing fast speeds now, but they may slow in the future. AT&T hasn't exactly been able to stay on the cutting edge of network performance. Ask their customers about dropped calls (even to this day).

Speed all depends on where you live. You can't say which carrier is better. Verizon LTE in my area hits like 1 Mbps down. It's a freakin' joke to call that speed LTE. GoSmart HSPA 3G is almost the same speed.

Who says im on welfare? Im not. Im talkn bout their consumers will be piss off now they have too wait for full 2yrs for a upgrade. Thats what suxs on being on Verizon not too mention their cap data plans.

Well, see, that's what you get for not jumping on their Unlimited Data Plan for PDA Smartphone when they first offered it in 2005 (like I did). Now everybody wants whine nilly-willy. As far as upgrade, look at it this way, you still get a subsidy after 24 months (unlike Tiddie-Mobile). So, man up, and stop sounding like a Speaker of the Senate.

WTF you talking about, Sprints Customer Service is in the USA. call this number and don't respond back until you do. 1800-777-4681. I have Sprint LTE in my town, they've launched it less than 1 year and it's in over 100 cities. I bet my bill is lower than yours on my LTE network

300 minutes vs my unlimited minutes on Sprint because you can't afford it you be on the welfare with limited talking and hardly chatting cuz you can't afford it you be on the welfare with your lame 300 minutes.

Here in da Bronx I get op to 20 megabytes down loads on Sprint, and almost every where I need to go in the NYC New Jersey Metro areas now.

LOL see how silly this can be! Choose who or what makes you happy carrier wise. I went from Massachusetts to Florida on Sprint with out dropping a cal on I95

How silly does the chant i made sound, and some of these threads are just as silly!

Allowing customers to upgrade at 20 or 22 months is NOT a good-will gesture by the carriers. It's actually a very calculating sales tactic. Your contract runs 24 months. By allowing you to upgrade before that, they're hoping you'll jump the gun before your contract is over & buy a new subsidized phone, thereby entering you into a new 2-year contract. This is actually a very dumb move from Verizon. By making customers wait the entire 24 months, they're giving them a much bigger opportunity to shop around once their contract is over. I hope it backfires on them.

I thought the same thing too. I just don't understand why they would do this. For me personally it is the nail in the coffin. Yes the network is good. The best, in fact. But sorry, it is no longer worth it for me to stay with them. Their weaknesses: Expensive plans, unnecessarily branding their phones, poorer choice of phones, consumer unfriendly policies such as what they are now proposing and the insistence on the locked bootloader.

It probably wont, the american public are gluttons for punishment. But if Verizon goes this path, hopefully they'll do like T-Mobile and offer a path to where you can pay off your device early if you want to get a new phone (or need to in the event something happens to it and you aren't covered by insurance).

this whole thing is confusing....so instead of making the phones cheaper they are actually more expensive and not to mention now they are jacking up ur cell phone bill by making u pay monthly for ur phone also....is that what they are trying to say.....sounds like a screw job either way u look at it if u ask me.....lost

Most people don't even understand the concept of a 24 month contract but being able to upgrade at 20 months. So they won't even know the difference.

For those who complain about being with Verizon, feel free to leave. That's one less ignorant customer they'll have to deal with. Enjoy your non-service and slow download speeds with whatever other carrier you want to go with.

And for the love of God, PLEASE learn how to use proper grammar if you choose to post on this site. Learn the difference between their and there, to and too, etc. And for good measure, run it through spell check first before posting a comment...

Speaking for myself, my issue is when certain things I take for granted change mid-term. So when I renewed almost three years ago, I had unlimited data. Then I was told last year that I would no longer have that option. I think I am entitled to complain about the change, if you do not mind. And now, I am told that I have to wait the full 24 months to upgrade.

Look, it's the incremental "screw you customers" attitude that angers me. I am sure the other carriers have it to a degree, but none are are bad as Verizon. Now, had I chosen to upgrade, it would have been on me. I have not. I have had an upgrade for almost a year, waiting for the right phone. Instead I am given sub-standard offerings (except the GN2) and a device like the DNA with great specs and very little storage (plus the suggestion that I use on line storage: can you say exceeding data caps?). It is also the height of Verizon arrogance (not yours, mind you) to think their service (read: network) trumps all. It does not. There ARE other viable options. So your assertion that all others provide "non-service" is incorrect. All carriers have excellent service areas and poor service areas. To pretend otherwise is simply to be uninformed. Finally, some of us (myself included) probably do mis-type words here. There are far greater sins in this world than to have mistakenly typed the word "too" instead of "to."

And, yes I will be leaving verizon as soons as the GS4 becomes available.

Some of your post makes very little sense. Anyone who decides to leave Verizon because of this change in policy is the opposite of ignorant. Someone making a conscious decision to leave based on sh*tty business practices is probably a smart customer. Ignorance is extolling the virtues of a company that overcharges while also giving you fewer perks each year for the money you're shelling out. In other words, ignorance is you.

They'll notice that they cant get new phones after 20 months like they are accustomed to. People will be mad. I work for sprint and you could only imagine the amount of hate we got over discontinuing the Premier program, which allowed the primary line to ugprade once a year instead of every 22 months. Now we got rid of it and people got mad, even though they changed it to where all the lines can do it every 20 months now. Any kind of change that negatively affects the customer will be noticed. How much fallout Verizon will receive I guess will depend on how dependent their customer base is on upgrades every 20 months as opposed to 24.

26.bparkerson (unregistered)

I can deal with what Verizon is proposing, just as long as I can keep my grandfathered UNLIMITED data. I realize it's only a matter of time before it's gone and at that point, adios! That, my folks, will be the last nail in the coffin!

What you are saying would be the dumbest decision for any wireless carrier to make. Raise rates yet sell all phones unsubisized? Really? Verizon isn't the largest carrier in the U.S. by being stupid. If they stop subsidies altogether, I dont see how prices won't go down, or certainly change to be more flexible to how people use their devices.

Look at the certain phones allowed on the payment plans, that will be in addition to the regular price plans and no decreases when the phone is actually paid off. So far only T-Mobile is discounting the subsidy....

Judging by the last couple of years full of various negative things that Verizon has enforced on their customers, I've come to the conclusion that Verizon can do whatever they want and it wouldn't matter... They could make customers wait 3 years for an upgrade if they wanted to, or even ax unlimited data for the grandfathered people who buy phones at full price. People would still throw their money at them because "they're the best"

I used to work for VZW in sales. They give their reps 50% off. That's the only reason I ever had them, because their prices are RIDICULOUS!
And no, I'm not poor. However, I have a large problem with paying that much for a damn phone. They find anything to charge you for, and their customer service is terrible.

could it be that you are just a bitter ex-employee? let's review a couple equations here: Sprint = one of the cheapest in the biz offering you unlimited everything, but yet they are struggling financially. T-Mobile = one of the cheapest in the biz offering you unlimited everything, but yet they are struggling financially.

Verizon (neither is any other company) in business to make friends w/customers...they're here to make money. Everyone says that the customer service is terrible when they can't get what they want which is usually some ridiculous request. i've never been charged for anything i didn't use. the problem is all too often the sense of entitlement. you can use as much data as you want but the thing is that past a certain point...you have to pay extra & why shouldn't have to? you used it didn't you? its like the water company or electric company. how many people show up to the water company or the electric company asking for a better deal? you don't but ppl try to pull dumb sh!t when it comes to wireless carriers & say its bad customer service when they don't cave in. you want good solid LTE, you want the best phones, you want no dropped calls but you expect to pay pennies for it? man, get outta here w/that trash way of thinking.

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